D&D General Greyhawk Humanocentricism?

[AnotherGuy]

Please do not interpret this is telling you you can't have your own opinions, but I do want to raise a point.

Mystara was the line that rewrote magic users to get name-level followers when a new kingdom's Gazetteer came out, created new (race-as-) classes never previously playable creature types (and no few new to the world) with each Creature Catalogue entry, and added colonies of winged minotaurs whenever the Princess Ark made another port call to fill Dragon magazine pages.

I'm also a huge Mystara fan, but IMO, it's a perfect example of a setting that rebuilt itself for every release.

Yes, but the Gazetteer predominantly created content for each new area explored.
Suddenly dumping several races in the Emirates, the Principalities or the Northern Reaches would alter those settings.

 

[AnotherGuy]

At least for me? Have any dragonborn in it be from those other continents.

Are we talking a singular PC which would be an oddity or curiosity or are we talking several communities of dragonborn scattered throughout the Gazetteer line. The Known World is a tiny part of the world of Mystara, you easily incorporate a dragonborn PC from one of the unexplored areas without disrupting the lore that has been.

 

[Remathilis]

I would though, heavily dislike it if WotC decided to make a Mystara line and started including Dragonborn, Goliaths, Warforged etc in the Known World. There are several other continents in that setting, why do they need to muck up the Known World with the current flavour? (rhetorical question).

See, that depends on what Mystara you are taking about. The one depicted in the Basic/Expert modules and box sets seems very banal and generic. The Mystara of Gazetteers and Creature Crucibles (including the Hollow World) is level 6 gonzo with meks, a nuclear reactor powering magic, and 17 types of lizard people. The Mystara of the Princess Ark is wild, the home of lupins, rakasta (tabaxi) and tortles. Once you have rules to allow turtle people, sprites, ogres and lycanthropes to be playable, dragonborn, goliaths and warforged almost seen quaint.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Are we talking a singular PC which would be an oddity or curiosity or are we talking several communities of dragonborn scattered throughout the Gazetteer line. The Known World is a tiny part of the world of Mystara, you easily incorporate a dragonborn PC from one of the unexplored areas without disrupting the lore that has been.

While it would be a very minor letdown to be, in some sense, draconic Drizzt (that is, "the one drow anyone ever really meets"), I could fully tolerate that. It'd be kinda neat if there were some hidden community of refugee dragonborn or the like. Keep to themselves 'cause their foreigners who struggle with the common tongue, that sort of thing.

But there's also a certain flavor of Superman, "last son of Krypton" angle that could be fun. Dragonborn whose egg washed up on the shore and nobody really knows where you're from or what you are, kind of thing.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I have definitely seen at least one person argue that, because there isn't any nation that dragonborn canonically lived in/ruled over, they can't exist on Greyhawk.

Not an argument that makes sense to me.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I feel this is a double-edged sword somewhat.
Not including all the playable content in an official traditional setting tells a group of people to stuff themselves.
Including all the playable content in a revised traditional setting tells a group of people to stuff themselves.

Is it easier for a table to add or subtract playable content for a setting in your opinion?
These boards are full of THACO = bad, and an additive system = good.

I would always prefer that I have to remove content to make something my own rather than add or create it.

 

[Micah Sweet]

While it would be a very minor letdown to be, in some sense, draconic Drizzt (that is, "the one drow anyone ever really meets"), I could fully tolerate that. It'd be kinda neat if there were some hidden community of refugee dragonborn or the like. Keep to themselves 'cause their foreigners who struggle with the common tongue, that sort of thing.

But there's also a certain flavor of Superman, "last son of Krypton" angle that could be fun. Dragonborn whose egg washed up on the shore and nobody really knows where you're from or what you are, kind of thing.

Both are good stories. In my homebrew all dragonborn come from an underground community accidentally destroyed by a magical catastrophe (side effect of a past heroes actions), and now they have founded a new community in the surface as refugees.

 

[AnotherGuy]

See, that depends on what Mystara you are taking about. The one depicted in the Basic/Expert modules and box sets seems very banal and generic. The Mystara of Gazetteers and Creature Crucibles (including the Hollow World) is level 6 gonzo with meks, a nuclear reactor powering magic, and 17 types of lizard people. The Mystara of the Princess Ark is wild, the home of lupins, rakasta (tabaxi) and tortles. Once you have rules to allow turtle people, sprites, ogres and lycanthropes to be playable, dragonborn, goliaths and warforged almost seen quaint.

Firstly, it wasn't Mystara yet in Basic/Expert.
And secondly I clearly referenced the Known World not the Savage Coast or Hollow World which is the weird and wonderful. As for the nuclear reactor that plays no real role in dumping or creating goliath, dragonborn and tiefling communities. This isn't Dragonlance with the Graygem.

It is not like Tortles exist in the Known World with their own Guild in Minrothad or as a senators in the Empire of Thyatis, so I feel your comparison is not a fair one at all.

But like I said upthread, the Known World is a tiny part of the world...they can add without disrupting what has been.

 

[AnotherGuy]

While it would be a very minor letdown to be, in some sense, draconic Drizzt (that is, "the one drow anyone ever really meets"), I could fully tolerate that. It'd be kinda neat if there were some hidden community of refugee dragonborn or the like. Keep to themselves 'cause their foreigners who struggle with the common tongue, that sort of thing.

But there's also a certain flavor of Superman, "last son of Krypton" angle that could be fun. Dragonborn whose egg washed up on the shore and nobody really knows where you're from or what you are, kind of thing.

Well in the northern parts of the Duchy of Karameikos are the jackal-headed creatures (Hutakaans) from Traldar history (B10 module) which live very much isolated from the rest of civilisation.

You could have Merchant Princes from Minrothad discovered a floating island with x race in the southern seas. There are myriad of ways without disrupting the original lore. Seriously the amount of Mystara actually explored (even with the 10 fan-made Gazetteers) is super small in comparison to the unexplored terrain.

 

[AnotherGuy]

Both are good stories. In my homebrew all dragonborn come from an underground community accidentally destroyed by a magical catastrophe (side effect of a past heroes actions), and now they have founded a new community in the surface as refugees.

Were these communities lizard-like or reptilian-like creatures beforehand? How did the reptilian part of them come to be, is what I'm asking or has that not been established?
Just curious.